Black Book: Car Values Plummet to Close Out 2017

Black Book reported in its latest “Market Insights” report that the overall value of cars at auction dropped by a record 0.78% last week.

Mid-sized cars saw the highest depreciation with a 1.18% decrease in value. Conversely, small pickups in the truck segment performed the best out of all vehicle categories, maintaining their value from last week.

“The last full week of 2017 saw the steepest decline of the year in the overall car segment,” said Anil Goyal, senior vice President of automotive valuation and analytics.

Results in the specialty markets showed:

Recreational Vehicles: Last month, the values for towable and motorized units had moved in different directions for the first time in several months.

Powersports Markets: The powersports market is entering the New Year on a positive note. Most of the segment changes are fairly modest this month, with both Cruisers and Off-Road bikes up a bit, marking an early beginning for the Spring selling season.

Heavy Duty: Key factors for late model HD value retention has always been condition, mileage and good specs, but those attributes play a factor now more than ever.

Medium Duty: The medium duty wholesale market continued its downward trend, This past month late model units (2015-2016) dropped a weighted average of $296 (0.6%), which is less than the previous five months.